I forgot to add this last chapter, but I would like to credit Lupine Horror for coming up with the title for this fic. I had mentioned the idea offhand to him and asked what he would call it. Hence why the story is called Time Turned Back.
"Sev, can you pass me the bloodroot?" asked Gabriel.
"I've told you, quit calling me Sev," said Snape. It was Lily's pet nickname for him, and he wasn't letting Gabriel, who was admittedly his best friend, call him by the same nickname his former crush had given him.
"Fine. How about Banner? Or maybe Hulk?"
Snape rolled his eyes. Gabriel had introduced him to his collection and while Snape had enjoyed the series as a nice change of pace, he wasn't as interested in the series as Gabriel was.
Even if he did like the fact that Gabe was at least comparing him to one of the smartest characters in the series. He did not have an anger management problem like Dr. Banner.
Gabe pouted.
"How about McCoy?"
"Not. I am not blue nor am I a furry," said Snape.
"Raven?"
"Not a female or into meditation," said Snape.
Gabe thought a moment.
"How about... Castiel?"
"Castiel?"
"It's a name of an angel under the ranks of Micheal the arch angel," said Gabe.
"...That's a little better. But no."
"Fury?" said Gabe.
Snape paused in his cutting and looked at him.
"Fury is acceptable. What about you?"
"I am so Loki," said Gabe immediately.
"Why Loki?"
"Because according to Supernatural, the arch angel Gabriel hid under the guise of a pagan trickster god known as Loki up until his death at the hands of Lucifer," said Gabe immediately. He had the entire book series right up until the latest one when he had somehow gotten sent to the past on him as well.
He had yet to share those with Snape though. He wasn't sure how his friend would react to Gabe reading a series about two brothers who killed people like them.
"Besides... Loki was an outcast in Asgard because he was a mage instead of a warrior like Thor in the Marvel universe. And if he were here he would be a Slytherin easily."
"Point. And we're pretty much outcasts because of the Marauders and the fact we prefer to 'cook' (he said this with sarcasm) to casting spells all the time."
"Speaking of the Marauders... I've been making a list of people we might be able to recruit to teach them a lesson, or at least a group to counter their malicious pranks," said Gabe.
"Count me in," said Snape in a heartbeat.
"I knew you would be interested. Anyway here's the list of people they've targeted repeated since I've come here. Think you could narrow down those who would be willing to work with outcast Slytherins?"
Snape took the list while Gabriel cut the ingredients. They had a simple arrangement...Gabriel would do the prep work, which even Snape admitted he was much better at than him, while Snape did the actual stirring.
Gabriel was a good cook, but he was somewhat impatient. Snape was great at potions, but his attention to the prep work wasn't nearly as good as Gabriel. Between the two of them they had been getting the highest marks in the class, and Slughorn was considering putting them in the advanced ones as well if this kept up.
"Count Longbottom, Abbot and Black out. Regulus might dislike his brother, but unless you do something to impress his mother he won't help out," said Snape.
"Damn. Wait, what would impress his mother?"
"Getting into a really high rank in that new group called the Death Eaters maybe?" said Snape.
Gabriel made a face.
"Death Eaters? Those hypocrites?" said Gabe grimacing.
"What?"
"Their leader, Voldemort, is a damn hypocrite. He's not a pureblood like he claims, but a half blood who happens to be good at word games," said Gabriel.
"How so?"
Gabriel took a sheet of parchment and scrawled 'I Am Lord Voldemort' on it...then he waved his wand and it reformed into a name.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle?" read Snape.
"He's got this trophy in the school, one for special services. When I looked him up I found he had been here the same time as Hagrid the gamekeeper, who didn't have anything good to say about the bloke. Apparently, he framed Hagrid for something he might have had a hand in or knew about that got a girl killed. When I reformed his name as a joke, I found that it spelled this. It's an anagram," said Gabriel.
"How do you know he's a half-blood though?"
"Looked him up through the goblins. I sent them two galleons and they sent me back this. Look at his parentage."
"Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle," read Snape.
"Merope is, according to school records, a squib. The Gaunt family are supposedly descended from Slytherin himself, but there's no record of it. And Tom Riddle isn't even a wizard...according to the goblins there's no record of him anywhere...but there was a record of a Tom Riddle in the area the Gaunt family lived in."
"The son of a squib and a muggle? And he's claiming pure blood supremacy?" said Snape with an eyebrow raised.
"Really strange don't you think? The last known record of a Tom Marvolo Riddle was in Borgin's and Burke's...seven months later he vanishes and this Dark Lord suddenly starts up," said Gabriel.
"What are you two idiots doing?" asked Narcissa snidely. While Gabriel had always been formally polite with her and her sister, she didn't particularly like him that much because he was a half-blood.
"Talking about how this Voldemort character is a total hypocrite," said Gabriel.
"What?"
"He's all for pure blood power, but he's really the half-blood son of a squib and some muggle lord from the area his mother lived in," said Gabriel.
"You got proof?"
"I have some proof, but no concrete evidence. However it all leads to the same conclusion...Voldemort is a half-blood that's really named Tom Marvolo Riddle," said Gabriel.
He neglected to mention that Voldemort had told him all of this in the future. When he was twelve. Right before he killed the basilisk.
And eventually if someone confronted Voldemort about the truth he would slip up and word would spread.
The less support he had now meant fewer people Gabriel would have to deal with later.
Narcissa took the copies and would later send it to her aunt.
Walpurga was a pure blood extremist. No way would she allow any of her house to follow a liar who claimed pure blood status but was in reality the half-blood son of a squib and a muggle.
He merely gave her the direction to look in. If word spread through her about Voldemort's ancestry...well, he might have a bigger fan base later.
"Are you sure this will work?" asked Regulus.
Walpurga Black had given him permission to befriend Gabriel Barton. She was impressed that the boy had exposed the liar known as Voldemort before her son could be swept up in his fake ancestry.
So Regulus joined the group that Gabe had jokingly called the Avengers, to Snape's annoyance. Still, he was the best planner Snape had ever seen. Besides...the whole point of Gabriel's "Avengers" was to counter the Marauders and give them a rival who wouldn't stoop to their level.
And getting even with James was something Snape could heartily agree on.
"I got the recipe from a pair of twin brothers who are just as big a pranksters as the Marauders, but have never crossed the line over to bullying. And this is the time-delayed variant of it."
"Whoever made this recipe is a potions genius," said Snape.
"Their names are Gred and Forge...or to be more precise Fred and George. They're so close that they drive people batty finishing each other's sentences."
"So how long does this last?" asked Regulus.
"It lasts for four hours, and they won't be harmed by it. Unlike the Marauders I don't tolerate bullies and I certainly won't let them get away with the crap they've been pulling. Got the potion Fury?"
"Right here Loki. You laced it with a charm, right Stark?"
Regulus had enjoyed the comics Gabriel let him read. He especially liked Iron Man, so Gabriel had told him he could be Stark.
"Ready and waiting."
Gabriel downed the hour long gender-switching charm and took the cupcakes. The canary creams were his first act of harmless payback against James and Sirius.
"Damn... Loki is definitely the perfect name for you Gabe," said Regulus.
Gabriel made for one disturbingly hot woman.
"Cupcakes?" she asked. Snape handed them over.
"Time to give the Marauders a dose of their own medicine."
Sirius looked up to find a rather hot Hufflepuff girl bearing baked goods.
"Sirius? The girls of Hufflepuff made you and the other boys a treat," she said with a wink.
Sirius grinned. He took the cupcakes with thanks. She gave him another wink before walking away with a sway to her hips.
Later, Sirius shared three of the cupcakes with his friends, having already devoured two of them.
James certainly enjoyed it...though Remus noticed a weird flavor to it.
It wasn't until halfway through Transfiguration that the potion took full effect.
They were practicing a switching charm when all of a sudden Sirius sprouted feathers... soon after James, Remus and Peter all followed suit.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded McGonagall.
"Payback for the prank they pulled on the Hufflepuff girls two days ago," said Gabriel flatly.
"What prank?" demanded Lily.
"These four thought it would be hilarious to spike the girl's drinks so that their hair turned clashing colors like orange and purple," said Gabriel in disgust.
"That was you?!" shrieked one of the girls, Bones, if Gabriel remembered right.
"We thought it would be appropriate for them to see what it feels like to be pranked by their victims. The potion we laced the cupcakes with will only last four hours...unless they took more than one."
"Sirius...he said he ate two," said Frank Longbottom.
"So he'll be stuck like that for eight hours," said Gabriel shrugging.
"This...prank of yours. It's completely harmless?" asked McGongall.
"They'll come out of it unharmed, if a bit embarrassed. Maybe Sirius will learn not to think of his smaller head next time a girl comes up with baked goods," snorted Gabriel.
"Beware the Greek bearing gifts," quoted Snape. It was something Gabriel had mentioned when he came up with this prank.
Gabriel and Snape got detention for the prank, but the damage was done.
James and Sirius were pissed about being hit with a taste of their own medicine. Remus was curious as to who had given Sirius the cupcakes.
However after learning that Slytherins had openly come to the defense of people outside their house, Gabriel found more volunteers in joining his group.
So he came up with a study session open to all houses.
To Snape's surprise, several people who usually mocked him during one of the Marauder's pranks started coming...and were actually civil to him.
Gabriel figured out why without a second thought.
"It's pretty damn obvious that James and his groupies are the 'popular' clique for the boys, while Lily and her group lead the girl half. And you have to remember that they often subject others to their cruel pranks. It's easier to join in with their mocking than it is to stand up to a bully," said Gabriel.
Snape thought that over, and realized he had a point. It would be far too easy to give in and join such pranks than it would be to stand up to James.
And there wasn't enough collective backbone in the damn school for anyone to stand forward and say 'no' to their pranks. At least until Gabriel came anyway.
Everything for the first two meetings went great!
The third one, not so much.
Lily was inexplicably attracted to one Gabriel Barton. She had no interest in blood purity, but she did like his intelligence. And since she was the undisputed prettiest girl in the school under fifteen, she knew he wouldn't say no to her advances.
All the better to snag James later, if he believed he had a credible rival since Severus had for some reason quit being around her.
She put her best outfit on, walked into the study group and was pleased to find all eyes on her. Except for one...Barton.
Gabriel ignored her completely, so she politely attracted his attention. Severus was watching her with wide, shocked eyes.
"Yes Ms. Evans?" he said calmly, not even turning around.
Suddenly the door slammed open revealing a very angry James Potter. Gabriel didn't need to turn around to know what was going on.
Lily clearly believed she could seduce him to make James jealous, and it had worked. Too well in fact.
Gabriel turned around, saw what his mother was wearing, and then at his rather hormonal father looking ready to hex him if he accepted the offer.
Gabriel had to wonder just how high his future/present teachers had to have been if the stories they always told him of his parents were this off base. Then again he always thought they had been sugar-coating those tales from the start.
"Let me guess. You came in here hoping to snag me as a boyfriend?" he asked of Lily, raising an eyebrow. Seeing her startled, yet pleased look he knew he had hit that nail on the head.
"And you came here because you had heard from one of your little gang that Lily was now interested in me, which gave you all the reason to try and challenge me for the top dog position among our peers," he said to James. James growled, but never denied it. His hormones were entirely ruling him at this point.
Severus watched his best friend carefully. This could make or break him in their house, depending on how he handled matters.
Gabriel snorted.
"Right, let's get one thing straight Ms. Evans. I never have, or ever will, have any interest in you romantically or otherwise. I prefer that the people I date have more personality beyond being the popular girl in school and frankly I would sooner date one of the Bones sisters than I would you at this point. They at least know how to deal with social situations appropriately and don't go flouting their figures off like some peasant girl. And as for you, Mr. Potter, I would suggest you take a moment to cool your head before your smaller head gets you into trouble. I have no interest with you or that gang of yours outside of trying to reign in your bullying habits. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to my Transfiguration homework," said Gabriel calmly.
Silence reigned in the room. Professor Flitwick looked between Lily and James. Clearly Gabriel had known this was coming and had prepared that speech beforehand, and he applauded the use of calm, rational thought over trying to use his ahem, 'second head'.
Lily reacted first, as she 'hmphed' at Gabriel and waltzed out like she owned the place. James followed soon after.
The entire room burst into quiet discussion over what had happened.
Gabriel had challenged James, unofficially of course but still an open challenge, and had come out on top. It was unheard of that a Slytherin managed to one-up a Gryffindor without actual spells being involved.
If Gabriel wasn't already the most popular boy in Slytherin for uncovering Voldemort's true ancestry and exposing him for the fraud he was (not to mention openly pranking the Marauders), then this would definitely secure that spot.
The fact he had also turned down Lily's rather obvious offer to date her, despite being the most good looking girl in their year and a few years above them in favor of a pureblood family was another point in his favor. Clearly he prefer brains over beauty.
Severus shook his head. He could care less for pureblood politics and games. He would stick to his potions thank you very much. At least Gabriel never cared for blood purity and when he had carefully mentioned his own status the boy had grinned and said "Well at least we have yet another thing in common."